Baggage Insurance for Air Passengers

Baggage insurance: an unnecessary expense or a truly useful service? Let’s look into this question.

Loss or damage to luggage is not as rare as it might seem at first glance. If you fly often, you’ve probably already encountered such problems. We have already written about what to do if your luggage is lost in a separate article. Now let’s talk more about the financial side of the issue. If 21 days have passed since your arrival, your luggage is officially considered lost. Consequently, from this moment you can contact the airline for compensation. The amount you will be paid is strictly regulated by international agreements: the Montreal or Warsaw Convention. It makes no sense to assure an airline employee that you were carrying an expensive item and that it was lost forever due to their fault.

The amount you receive depends not on the value, but on the weight of the luggage.

The only exception is if you registered your luggage with a declared value. If the airline operates under the Warsaw Convention, for each kilogram of luggage you will receive the equivalent of $20 in the airline’s currency. Most airlines operate in accordance with the Montreal Convention. In this case, the passenger receives up to 1,288 Special Drawing Rights (approximately $1,700 USD). What to do to protect yourself? Buy baggage insurance! On the kupi.com website, we offer all passengers purchasing an airline ticket to also buy baggage insurance. As you can see, even with insurance, the compensation amount may not cover your losses. The only solution in this case is to avoid checking expensive items as luggage.